Deep drone attacks in Russia hold key lessons for India

Strikes deep inside Russia that took down several of its strategic bombers and targeted air bases that were almost 5,000 km away from the frontline, utilising low-cost drones that Ukraine managed to smuggle in, hold key lessons for India, which is likely to lead to a higher requirement of counter UAV systems.

The strikes were unique as military targets located at strategic depth were easily taken down by First Person View (FPV) drones launched from modified cargo containers mounted on trucks, which were parked close to military bases.

While the Indian armed forces have invested heavily in counter drone systems on its border - the recent success in taking down Pakistani drones during Operation Sindoor showed their effectiveness - establishments located deeper within the mainland are yet to get an effective counter drone grid.


At present, the muti-layered grid used close to the border relies largely on jamming equipment, air defence guns that have been modified to track small, slow flying targets and traditional surface-to-air missile systems that can take on larger drones.

The armed forces are also slowly inducting DRDO-developed laser-based drone kill systems that can at present target a limited number of drones at effective distance. Higher powered versions of the laser-based systems are under development and are likely to be inducted in large numbers in the coming years.

The forces, the Army in particular, are also fostering the development of hard kill drone systems that can be used to take down swarms targeting sensitive locations. Given the prevalence of fibre optic drones that are immune to jamming, the hard kill option would be in higher demand in the coming days. The Army is already overseeing trials of a mobile 'micro missile' system that is being designed to take on swarm drones. The Navy in particular is more vulnerable to Ukrainian-style drone attacks as its bases and sensitive establishments are based far from the frontlines.